POSITION | SUSTAINABILITY | STANDARDIZATION
ISO/TC 323 Circular Economy Mirror international standardization strategically for the promotion of a holistic Circular Economy.
July 13, 2023 The role of standardization in the Circular Economy In the transformation to a circular economy, thinking across industry and state boundaries is central. The circular economy only works if market participants cooperate and knowledge is transferred. Planning security for circular products and processes as well as reliable quality standards that guarantee product safety are essential. The industrial shift to more circular business models is a complex process in which companies can currently rely on different terminology and basic principles of circular economy and only a few standardized indicator systems to support measurement and evaluation. The drafting and further development of norms and standards is therefore central to meeting these requirements. In addition, there are established structures at national, European and international level for the processes of standardization, through which industrial activities can be influenced. In order to develop a solid and harmonized standards structure that supports the goals of the Green Deal, the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) and German industry, a reliable and progressive structure is needed to guarantee the transfer performance of international to European standardization – and vice versa. Current developments in international standardization Currently, technical and strategic standards are being developed and refined in various bodies at all three levels – national, European and international – in particular to accelerate the transformation of more circular products and services and to lower market access barriers. With five working groups, ISO/TC 323 Circular Economy at international level is one of the most ambitious projects in the committee landscape as far as horizontal standardization is concerned. Here, fundamental topics such as the compilation of a product circularity data sheet or the breakdown of terminologies and principles as well as indicator systems of a circular economy are to be implemented. The initiation and rationale behind the TC is fundamentally welcome, as there is a lack of cross-industry consensual definitions, and conceptual ambiguities of Circular Economy principles and definitions prevail even in academic discourse. Unfortunately, the work in the various working groups of the TC is characterized in part by major discrepancies in content and a need for harmonization. Particularly with regard to the goal of standardizing a holistic definition of the Circular Economy concept that goes beyond the concept of waste, undesirable developments can be observed. The fact that fundamental and horizontal ideas are being standardized at the international level, which are in contrast to the interpretation of German industry and the
Annika Stuckenhoff | BDI Initiative Circular Economy | T: +49 30 20281585 | a.stuckenhoff@ice.bdi.eu | www.bdi.eu